By Christian Thorsberg
More than two years have passed since the Agriculture Improvement Act — better known as the Farm Bill — expired, leaving the nation’s primary agricultural policy framework in a state of prolonged uncertainty.
The bill, which steers the economics, logistics, and environmental priorities of America’s food production and land and water use, is one of the largest pieces of legislation authored by Congress. The 2018 package, which lapsed in 2023, is more than 500 pages long.
Two full legislative sessions have come and gone without the approval of a new five-year Farm Bill, and this year is unlikely to yield more productive results. The U.S. House Agriculture Committee passed a new version of the bill out of committee earlier this month, but its chances of gaining Senate approval, policy experts tell Circle of Blue, are slim.
Last year, hundreds of Farm Bill-supported conservation programs and grants administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) were paused or cancelled by the Trump administration. Many were stalled or eliminated on grounds of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
Some of these grants include those administered by Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), a USDA effort that subsidizes farmers who address “natural resource challenges” on their lands, including water pollution, invasive species, and flooding.
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